Batman
Darkseid
Luthor
Cheetah
Eobard Thawne
Lex Luthor
Cheetah
Eobard Thawne
Thaal Sinestro
Joker
Lex Luthor
Joker
Darkseid
General Zod
Circe
Lex Luthor
Black Adam
Sinestro
Updated Vote Tallies…
Lex Luthor: 63
Joker: 53
Darkseid: 46
Sinestro: 25
Black Adam: 12
Deathstroke: 10
General Zod: 6
Reverse Flash: 5
Brainiac: 5
Black Manta: 4
Riddler: 4
Penguin: 3
Cheetah: 3
Anti-Monitor: 3
Captain Cold: 3
Doomsday: 3
Ra’s al Ghul: 3
Starro: 2
Catwoman: 2
Circe: 2
Vanda Savage: 1
Professor Ivo: 1
Dr. Freeze: 1
Despero: 1
Injustic Superman: 1
Gorilla Grodd: 1
What, no Batman Who Tries Too Hard?
(dodges tomatoes and kryptonite)
Kidding! Kidding!
For the fourth slot:
While it would be nice NOT to have a Batman/Superman villain, they DO keep the lights on, so we should probably consider:
1) Brainiac (plus: wide cross-media appeal, name in the dictionary, shrunk Kandor. minus: seriously inconsistent portrayal)
2) Catwoman (plus: insane cross-media appeal, female, minus: hasn't really been a villain in about forever)
3) Zod (plus: he's already been on Mount Rushmore, minus: was once killed by flying into Superman's butt)
4) Ra's Al Ghul (plus: remarkable staying power. Played by Dr. Bashir and Arthur Schindler. Consistent portrayal. minus: not quite big enough)
Okay, if not a Superman/Batman villain, who?
A) Sinestro (plus: Probably the best of the "evil mirror" villains, minus: Personally, I just never liked the guy)
B) Eobard Thawne (plus: Repeatedly has done big harm to the entire Flash family, killer portrayals on TV. minus: Has become a get-out-of-jail-free card for bad writers)
C) Cheetah (plus: killer look, consistently mostly-evil, goes toe-to-toe with Wonder Woman, which is no mean feat. minus: no major victories, occasionally muddy motivation)
D) Deathstroke (plus: (mostly) well-defined code, major (if somewhat controversial) victories, cross-DCU threat. minus: Deadpool rip-off (kidding), sometimes OP, more of an anti-hero)
E) Anti-Monitor (plus: Ate the multiverse! minus: Personality of a goldfish. Unclear motivation. Consistently jobbed in every subsequent appearance.)
F) Black Adam (plus: Cool outfit, gratuitously pointy ears, interesting backstory. minus: Arguably not a villain)
G) Mordru (plus: Occasionally all-powerful super-wizard from the future. minus: Darkseid sucked most of his power away. No one cares about the Legion.)
Meh, Leave it at three.
Hmmm, not much action on this thread since the last vote tally.
- with the exception of the comment quoted below... A+ stuff! I do believe it needs to be at least four heads.
I think it's safe to say we have a BIG FOUR agreed upon: Lex - Joker - Darkseid - Sinestro
The Marvel thread on this topic was expanded to FIVE heads, but it doesn't appear to be necessary here.
THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed ...and to those who haven't yet, but will now
The first three spots are obviously Luthor, Joker, and Darkseid.
Assuming Fredric Wertham and Dan DiDio aren't eligible, I'm kind of thinking between four characters: Brainiac, Mongul, Despero, and Eclipso. Brainiac is the highest profile, but a lot of his actions boil down to an expanded take upon his programming, which isn't necessarily his fault. He's cold logic while other three seem to be entirely without conscience, something a lot of the other candidates mentioned in this thread have.
Mongul has done a lot of horrible things (Coast City, "For the Man Who Has Everything") but ultimately, from actions to appearance, he comes off as Darkseid Lite. Even Warworld could be consdiered "Your Child's First Apokolips."
Despero is a full-on Justice League villain, versus a single hero's archnemesis. But between his early days as a more calculating villain to his later days as a powerhouse villain, he's been all over the place as far as presentation.
Eclipso, though, is Silver Age possession horror turned into nightmare fuel...he even started out as a villain to himself (via Bruce Gordon). He's an ancient evil god who's killed multiple heroes, is a contemporary of Darkseid, and has evolved into something bigger and badder without entirely losing sight of his earliest appearance. While he hasn't had too much of a media presence, what he has gotten has been used to great effect. He doesn't get used as often as the others but when he is, it's definitely an event.
So yeah, I'm going to say Luthor, Joker, Darkseid, Eclipso.
Last edited by Kaijudo; 09-07-2023 at 12:36 PM.
I wonder if there's a case for Amanda Waller
It should follow Mt. Rushmore's criteria.
Birth (Golden : Fui Onyui/Chin Lung/All-Yang (Detective Comics 1)
Growth: Lex Luthor or the Joker (Iconic supervillains)
Development: Anti-Monitor or Darkseid (universe or multiversal threats)
Preservation: Superboy-Prime
You can tell how old this thread is by Sinestro making the cut. I’d say he’s the most replaceable of the 4, with Reverse Flash, Deathstroke and Black Adam being the obvious choices in recent times
Done with DC. Can't handle the constant whiplash! Time to go on a hiatus!